Crippled in heavy seas

GREG Torpy is back on terra firma and lamenting a lost opportunity after Brindabella’s forced retirement in the Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race this week.

The Mooloolaba sailor was fortunate enough to earn his first berth on Australia’s most famous maxi for the Bluewater Classic, but things went horribly wrong when the Jutson 79 was confronted by violent conditions in the Tasman Sea on Monday.

“We got out of the (Sydney) harbour and it was smooth sailing for a while,” the boat’s steerer said.

“Then a front came through at about 25 to 30 knots. Then another front came through on the second day when we were going into Bass Strait with 55-knot winds.”

Brindabella, which was sailing prominently in 10th position and coming second in the Performance Handicap Section, was buffeted by gale-force gusts and huge waves that caused race-ending damage to the boat.

A small tear developed in the main sail before a second rip rendered it useless.

Powerless, the crew scrambled for safety as the high seas battered their boat.

“We got hit by two or three eight-metre waves,” Torpy said.

“Then you’ve got an 80-foot (24m) boat getting pushed sideways by waves that are breaking on the boat.

“We decided for the safety of the crew that that would be it and we put the motor on and went back to Eden.”

But not before the wild weather took its toll – the $75,000 main sail was broken and two of the crew were injured.

“One fellow downstairs had a suspected broken collar bone, which happened early in the piece (of that storm), and we had another bloke who almost had hypothermia,” Torpy said.

While disappointed to bow out of the race, Torpy was candid about the incident.

“When you do the Sydney to Hobart it’s just one of those things that happen,” he said.

Torpy, who lives on a boat opposite the Mooloolaba Yacht Club, is a seasoned sailor who competed in the Seoul Olympic Games in 1998.

The Sunshine Coast’s Andy Turton, on Ray White Spirit of Koomooloo, crossed the finish line at Hobart on Thursday night.